The Lost Ones
by AnvilBlue
Summary: A not so traditional 'human in Redwall' story a car accident leads one person to the Dark Forest where he finds new life in the lands of Mossflower County.
1. 01 The Fates

(Disclaimer-Redwall isn't mine blah, blah, blah. You know I don't. Okay first off I just want to warn that this fanfic may or may not disturb you)  
  
It had been just a normal day; strange happenings don't give themselves away with the cliché of it being a dark and stormy night. It was early spring and everyone in Hammond could still feel the effects of winter as icy breezes swept through our town, blowing debris over the roads. A car streamed down the residential road, the driver eager to get home from his bad day at work. This was one Terrence Boyds, a high school student, who worked for the local theater; any job was better then none although the pay was pretty average, being about seven bucks an hour.  
  
"Please don't rain." He pleaded with the darkening, overcast skies. His one bright spot of his day would be the time he was to spend with his girlfriend Kathryn, who worked with him. He tapped his hands on his steering wheel, impatiently waiting for the light, which was a long one, crossing a causeway that many eighteen-wheelers used. The light finally turned and he stepped on the pedal lightly, coasting in the road slowly only to hear the wail of a trucks horn.  
  
Turning he found himself staring at tons of metal pounding towards him, slowed down by some force of nature, he saw the truck hit. All twenty tons of it hitting his small two-ton car, the metal exterior gave quickly bending around the trucks front along with its driver. All he saw was red as his car bent around his body as his head was smashed forcefully against the glass and then through it. The trucks momentum halted and the two vehicles sat motionless as cars stopped around it, somewhere the frantic call to 911 could be heard as well as the distant sirens of an ambulance.  
  
+++++  
  
Elsewhere in the peaceable lands of Redwall and Salamandastron a meadow lay strewn with blood from battle. Three beasts' still stood fighting among corpses and blood stained sand, two rats fought against a large burly otter. No victory could be claimed for either side; both their families and friends had perished earlier save for the smart ones who had wisely run from the ill-fated battle. The otter stuck out with a long spear, he'd already taken arrows through his chest and was slowing from his loss of blood.  
  
The figure's he fought were quickly becoming blurred and distorted. One of the rat's fell down from exhaustion, dying in the dirt amidst a pool of his own blood as it pumped from his battered body. The others were close to death as well, but still they fought each with a thirst for vengeance. Neither beast won however; eventually they collapsed on each other, weapons falling from their weak hands. Both fell at the same time and both died at the same time as well, lying next to each other amidst frozen picture of chaos.  
  
They both gave themselves freely and their souls flew off to the shores of the dark forest together to join their kin and ancestors. All was forgotten in the peace of death, lives were gone and the past was meaningless and all they had was all the time in existence to figure it out.  
  
++++++  
  
In the crumpled wreck that had been the car of Terry Brooks a small groan of pain echoed about the wreck, which, with a horrid realization, he saw now doubled as his coffin. The world slowed as he looked around, lights blinded them and everything was on mute. People ran about, a paramedic asked something wordlessly; he gloved hands stained with blood as he searched Terry's mangled body.  
  
The paramedic had on a coat as rain poured down from the heavens; it flowed through the wreck and over Terry's body. In slow motion he watched as blood snaked across the road towards the drain, people looked on over police barricades with anguish on their face. Sparks rained down and the car vibrated heavily as firefight tried to cut away the wreck. Terry just looked on in some strange twisted fascination, his whole body was numb, the only pain he had was when he saw her face.  
  
There she was, being held back by the police as she screamed out silently, her face strewn with tears as she looked at Terry. She watched helplessly as his eyes fluttered, struggling to stay awake. The paramedic motioned over several others and he disappeared in a crowd of people. Terry felt pain, he fought the crushing sleep that was upon him, he refused to leave and he wasn't done with life yet. He felt the anguish of leaving, he stared through the crowd and the rain to see her, always beautiful in his mind even as she faded and disappeared into a white mist.  
  
He cried out silently for her and felt unconsciousness take him as the black replaced the white and he was trapped in an endless sea of back pressed against him on all sides. Then he woke up, still in the sea of black he stood to find himself not surrounded by black, a tall ominous gate stood at his back. On both sides was nothingness.  
  
"Am I dead?" He asked, his voice echoing as if he were in a cave.  
  
"Pretty much." A voice answered back, it was a deep knowledgeable voice, but to Terry it was most definitely a disembodied voice. He cast a gaze around, above, below and everywhere else for a sign of the mystery speaker.  
  
"Where are you?" He asked, a bit of fright in his voice, then remembering the voices statement. "What do you mean pretty much?"  
  
"You're lying dead in your car right now. They didn't get you out in time and you bleed to death and if you aren't dead then you at least don't have a soul." It answered back emotionlessly. "By the way you're not talking to a person so you can stop looking around."  
  
"What am I talking to then?" Terry replied defiant of the spoken facts.  
  
"The gates, you're standing in front of the gates to the dark forest right now. You're supposed to be in here at the moment, but something's keeping you." It stated simply and Terry turned to face the gates.  
  
"Am I in hell?"  
  
"Depends on how you look at it."  
  
"Screw this I'm going home."  
  
"You can't, I'm sorry."  
  
"You're a fucking gate, how can you be sorry. I'm the hell out of here!" Terry yelled back as he was thoroughly frightened by now. He broke into a run in the opposite direction of the gate, he ran into the darkness of the mists. The ground felt flat against his feet as he ran, the gates disappeared and he was surrounded by the darkness when suddenly the ground dropped out suddenly from beneath his feet and he fell screaming through the dark.  
  
He screamed all the way down, suddenly the darkness broke and his saw green rushing up at him, oceans and rivers and forests were all rushing up to greet him. A great mountain could be seen on the shores, a large red abbey to his right and another crumbling mass below him probably to the south, vaguely he thought it was somehow familiar. Then he hit the ground and once again all was darkness for him, his soul enveloped in a dark shroud as he hit it. 


	2. 02 Searching

A scattered group of beast's walked over the still fresh battlegrounds, stepping over the corpses of vermin and woodlander alike, stooping to gather up fallen arms and supplies. The group was mostly squirrels; all of them cloaked tightly almost making it impossible to tell their species had it not been for their bushy tails that stuck up behind them. A few otter's and hares walked amongst the grave scene as well, alternating looks of disgust at the carnage and excitement of finding new arms for free. The stumbled through avoiding the dark red pools set into the ground until at last they began their move off as a patrol swept through the area.  
  
It was small patrol too; only about ten beasts marched in the precise movements of the long patrol, the perilous warriors standing proud amongst the dead. They explored the carnage with a sort of twisted curiosity at the scene at their feet. They checked through the piled corpses carefully checking for a pulse, any signs of life, occasionally they found one alive, but it turned out to be a false alarm as their resident healer checked the beast. The battlefield was far and wide, they had begun towards the noon, burying them or sending them down the nearby river as they went, and by the time they were almost done it was nearing the sunset.  
  
At the far end of the field lay the bodies of two mice and an otter, each still holding their weapons, all dead and silent. However then there was the dull thud of a heart beat, a single one after a long rest, then another as slowly the organ began pumping in the otter's body, his wounds having been sealed with dried blood and his eyes suddenly flicked beneath the lids. All there was in the otter's mind was her face, not that of an otter nor any other beast, but that of one foreign to Redwall. With the face came the fear, the pain and the overwhelming sense of loss, the face screaming out in anguish as rain and tears flowed down her face.  
  
His eyes flickered open to find himself staring blurry eyed into the lifeless eyes of a rat, as he lay quite still and quite dead, spear still in his paw. He couldn't move, he licked his eyes around, taking in what he could see over the lifeless corpse before him, he saw movement far off, his eyes too unfocused to make out anything, it was all disturbingly familiar and yet so obviously wrong. His only memories were those of the face crying out and then the small red trail snaking down into the sewers, he wondered if this was heaven or hell that he was in.  
  
His body was numb and unfeeling, a sharp contrast from the mental anguish running around in his head as he thought he felt something roll out of his outstretched hand. He tried to sit up, but managed only to twist his body forward. It was enough though and he found himself staring at his own furry paw, lying on the ground clutching at the phantom spear, which lay inches from it. His long rudder-like tail flicked a bit, flopping over his legs and onto the spear, he tried moving it again with success.  
  
"Look! One of the blighters is still kickin', wot." Came the loud voice over the field, and over ran several shapes, all of them blurred to his unfocused eyes, his chest rose and fell in struggled breathing.  
  
"I'll say your right ol' chap. Where's Fleet thingy, wot?" Another said, presumably the leader of the troop in a much quieter voice with a tone of disbelief, the otter simply stared up, his breathing loud through his parched mouth.  
  
"I'm right here you rotter." The healer, a young hare wife, to the one who had just called for her in fact, she bent down and poured part of a canteen into the otter's mouth after leaning him against nearby tree, carrying him carefully. The otter merely choked on the water coughing it up as it blocked off his air, the hare wife poured some more down his throat, holding his blood crusted muzzle shut, forcing him to swallow the water.  
  
"Hold it down there ye great river whomper, know wot's good for ye." The healer held the otter like a babe as she cooed to him as if her own child, his eyes began flickering shut in her embrace. She glanced at the otter's wounds and dressed them hurriedly as she made her point clear. "Strange, this 'un should be long dead by now, by the looks of it."  
  
"Such a strong beast deserves a second chance I suppose." One of the younger hares spoke his tone was not light, it was morbid as he glanced about the field. "Shame not more got one."  
  
"We best get that'un back Salamandastron on the double m'gel." The leader told his wife, the healer, before addressing his troops as a whole. "All right check the rest of 'em and let's get any of 'em that are still kickin' back to Salamandastron chaps n' chapesses." They moved quickly and by the light of the moon they moved off the field bearing a mere three stretchers, an otter borne on each one. They had counted the dead before sending them off, regardless of species. In all over six hundred beasts had lost their lives in the carnage, a carnage with no discernable point to it for the patrol, they were however relieved that the vermin hadn't won the battle.  
  
The made their way through the forest, all in silence for all their thoughts were still on the scarred earth at their back, their thoughts with the souls lost in battle. Each silently remembered friends and family lost in wars and on patrol's silently wishing them luck in the Dark Forest. They walked straight through, birds glaring at them form their perches; they had a respect for them, as did the roving thieves of Mossflower, hiding in the patrol's wake. On the stretchers the otter's were silent, thoughts upon the past as well, on the battle save for one of them, who by all accounts should have been dead.  
  
As the moon stood high above the shores of Salamandastron the found their way into the mountain stronghold with all three still alive and dreaming. One of them, a young male, dreamt of hot root soup, one , a young ottermaid, dreamt of nothing at all in her fading hours, while the third, now cleaned, was found to also be quite young, dreamt of far away places, happier times and the face. In the silence of the mountain's infirmary a single tear flowed down the otter's cheek in the memory of her face, twisted in horror, crying out for him as his last drops flowed over the cold, unfeeling asphalt 


	3. 03 Soft Breezes

Back on earth in her bedroom she sat, no tears fell from her cheeks, she had long since run out. Her mind had gone with the tears to splash upon her bedroom floor; she just sat staring at walls her mind projecting memories onto the wall as if it were a theater. She sat, the images flowed through her mind, they had just been kids really, in soul at least, it had been a love that ran deep through their veins. She had declined to speak, eat or sleep in the days that followed the accident. She had seen it all, the raindrops splashing on the asphalt, mixing with his spilt blood as it ran from her love.  
  
The twisted wreck, all of it was fresh in her mind, the last moment especially. She could feel him reaching out for her as she struggled with the police, his eyes tearful and wanting and then they closed. She could see him through the paramedic's legs, lying beneath the wreck staring into his eyes, even with the separation she could feel him and then there was nothing. She felt him die and take a piece of her with him, not a small one; a huge chunk of her existence was gone forever lost beneath the twisting metals.  
  
She tried to ignore the pain a little, focus on the good times; it was what everyone always said on television and in the movies. What a load of crap it was, it was all gone, her future, her life and her love were lost to her in the flow of life and death. She glanced away from the wall to her dresser; she knew it was there from her times as a girl scout beneath clothes and junk. Her head jerked to the door as a soft hand tapped on her door, a worried voice almost whispered to her.  
  
"Honey . . ." It was her mom, she leaned against the door heavily, her eyes too were red from tears as her daughters, they had all been close. She cold imagine what was going on in her head as well, loss, after all, knows no boundaries or rules in its quest. "Are you all right?" Her voice laced with worry and hoarse from the crying she herself had done. Only silence greeted her worry and the parent took over, instinctively doing the only thing she knew she could do. "I'm here for you when you're ready." With that she walked away pausing to look back at the door from which a sense of sorrow emanated, another tear stinging her eye she walked on.  
  
Kathryn just stood in the middle of her room, glancing around and then settling her eyes back on the dresser, she stumbled towards it, legs weak with sorrow. She opened the drawer and took it out of its safe haven, safe from her and the dark thoughts revolving in her head. She held it tightly and wandered towards the small bathroom adjacent from her room, she went in and pulled the door shut behind her. She ran the bath; hot water flowed into the shallow tub as she toyed with it, more memories surfaced in her mind diving more tears from her eyes as she collapsed.  
  
"Damn it why?" She screamed as tears streamed down her face as she pounded the floor with her fists, crying out, cursing the names of any heavenly entity that came to mind. She became threatening them as well, all the while she shook with grief as the tears emptied out onto the floor, she stripped down and got in the bath. It lay on the counter, out of her grasp; it was the easy ticket out she knew it as she plunged her head into the steaming water, holding it there.  
  
She held it, eyes open watching the white plastic of the tub as bubbles flowed past her eyes from her mouth, a small pain in her chest told her to get air, but she ignored it holding her head farther under the water's surface. Finally it won out through and he fell back from the tub gasping for air, lying on the linoleum floor, sobbing still. She got out clutching the bathroom counter grasping it in the other hand as she rose; she looked at it as if she'd never seen it before and held it, studying it carefully.  
  
It gleamed in the bright bathroom lights giving a reflection on the ceiling; she took it and eased herself back into the tub, this time lying down in the water, head up above the water staring at the metal. She toyed with the idea as the tub filled up steadily; just one movement and the pain would be gone. Who knew maybe she would even find Terry again somewhere out there, up there, wherever he was. Three minutes later the tub was overflowing as reddened water spread thin across the floor from the tub.  
  
"Katie?" The soft whispers began from outside her room as the already white ceiling became whiter to her eyes and then it all faded into an endless black. A slight breeze blew through the house and over the young girl as her heart beat steadily slower in the calm water. With it went everything and she felt herself be lifted, but the pain still remained and she saw his face waiting there, a look of longing for her.  
  
+++++  
  
In the infirmary of Salamandastron the resident nurse Greenbrush Fleetpaw stood over her patients, the two male otters were doing better after a few days though neither gained consciousness, but she worried over the lone female. She had been steadily fading and all the harewife's knowledge could do nothing, she felt so helpless in these times. They were the only times she envied her warrior brethren for they had more control over their charges then she could ever have over the cruel fates.  
  
She sat in a chair next to the maid, clutching her weak paw tightly, trying vainly to comfort her as she felt her pulse slow. Her husband stood, he too was helpless as she and he knew the maid would soon die if a miracle didn't present itself. He figured it wasn't too unlikely considering the other otter that had quite fatal wounds when they found him. He looked over the beds to find him resting peacefully in the cool sheets, he walked over to his wife and put one paw on her shoulder and the other he lay on the otter in a comforting manner.  
  
Silently he hoped for a miracle as he stood watching his wife, he face scrunched up in sorrow, she cherished life, it devastated her each time she lost a patient. She looked up at her husband thanking him with her eyes as they stood comforting the fallen otter, the pulse slowed and then stopped. His wife looked down, a tear falling to the sheets as she thought she felt a cool breeze blow by her as the maids soul swept up and into the dark forest to fin old friends, family and peace within its gates. 


	4. 04 Miracles

Kathryn wandered amongst the darkness, her thoughts shattered and confused, she didn't really know what had happened. All she knew was the great gates before her, they stood looming in the darkness, foreboding and welcoming in the same moment. She looked with broken hopes for the end to the pain in her heart; it had stayed with her, a sort of comfort in the darkness as it wrapped itself in happy memories. Her thoughts were always on him as she collapsed before the gates, strange mists swirled about her, flowing over her skin, she shivered in their grasp.  
  
She gripped the clothes upon her body tightly, clutching them for warmth and protection from the cool dark, her clothes felt safe. Actually they were his clothes, the high school jacket with his letter proudly sewn onto it, the shirt she had kept on their nights together, all he mementos. She pulled the jacket tightly around her, keeping the warmth of it and the memories within her. She wasn't ready for anything, up bubbled a memory. She'd gotten lost on her way home, a little girl frightened at shadows, then he came and made it all right, comforting as his jacket did now, bringing her to safety.  
  
She didn't speak, but felt something call to her, beckoning her to the gates. She rose on wobbly knees and stood, staring at the gate, wondering where they led. To him? She didn't know, but then in the moment of the gates calling, she felt it, a second spirit calling for her, its call warm and soothing as the memories, she stumbled awkwardly away from the gates. He wasn't there; something called her into the darkness, something that gave her strength, a feeling of power and courage grasped.  
  
She broke into a stumbling gait away from the gate, half expecting them to reach out and pull her into their depths, wherever the gates led. They just stood; watching her without eyes, stray the beaten path onto the true path that led to the light of the world through the darkest depths. She broke into a run as strength flowed from her heart, she knew where he was and it wasn't there, she didn't know where she was going, but she felt it. She ran on through the dark, uncaring for the nothingness that surrounded her and then as he had done before her she fell.  
  
From the deepest dark she fell, the light shone below, the warmth of it invading her soul and she could feel it, another soul passed before her, up into the dark. It was somehow similar, yet very different in her eyes; she saw hills, grasses, mountains and a whole world waiting below. She fell farther then any skydiver would hope to, a few thoughts passed through her mind regarding a parachute, but she ignored them. She could feel him, stronger as the land drew itself up to meet her, a great mountain rushed up from the seashore, that was where he was.  
  
The details became much clearer, she could see an abbey in the distance, people upon the ground, walking and going about the lives oblivious to the rogue soul above. She felt him getting closer, her heart healed with it, the only tears presented were of happiness and a small smile crept over her features. She had found him, with only that she was content, the ground rushed up and she went through the mountain and then all was darkness again. From the darkness through the light and into the dark again, that was it.  
  
+++++  
  
Greenbrush cried softly as she always did, her husband stood behind her a comforting paw upon her shoulder, squeezing gently as he saw the otter maid's paw go limp. He prayed for a miracle, he hated to see his wife in that condition; helpless to do a thing, it was her duty as a healer to be sad when a life was lost in her care. She was strong though, she would go on; battles and deaths had hardened her enough to keep her sane amidst it all.  
  
"She's in a better place now . . ." He began, not really sure how to comfort her, more skilled in the ways of war then conversation. He just hugged her tightly; he felt her tears drop from her eyes and onto his arms as he held her.  
  
"Suppose your right." She stood up and away from hi embrace, wiping a few stray tears from her face. She straightened her clothes and slowly slid the sheets over her patient, watching a small stains of blood leaked through. Quickly she went about her other duties, her husband stayed to help her and every so often he looked to the dead beast, some part of him still hoping for a miracle. Later he left as the sun began its journey from the zenith of noon down into the horizon, bathing the world in golden light.  
  
"Damn . . ." He muttered to no one as he walked down the halls of Salamandastron to the main cavern, where a few of his friends, eagerly awaited news of the otters they had rescued. Back in the infirmary Greenbrush went about her duties, her eye skipping over the dead, pushing the thoughts from her mind as she had trained herself to. However the curiosity, the urge to hope was strong and she sat at the side of the maid lowering the sheet from her face.  
  
"Still looks so alive . . ." She remarked in a soft voice, lower then a whisper. She ran a paw down the maids arm as if she was trying to comfort her in the afterlife, and then she stumbled from the bed in shock. The otter turned over in the bed away from her comforting touch. "Wot in the name of Salamandasthingy?" She exclaimed and leaped up and gripped the maid's hand gently, she could feel warmth flowing from the once cold fingers and could see the maid's chest rising and falling gently with her breathing.  
  
"Wot's goin' on in there gel?" A hare outside in the hall yelled in at the nurse's exclamation. Greenbrush leaped out into the hall embracing the hare in a warm hug before skipping off down the hall to the main cavern of the mountain.  
  
"A miracle!" She shouted back to the bewildered hare that blushed brightly beneath his fur.  
  
"Greenbrush!" Her husband hurried to her side as she entered the cavern, she leapt into his arms wrapping her paws around his neck. "Wot's up?" He asked confused by the sudden mood swing, he had left her in a sour mood; he silently prayed she wasn't pregnant.  
  
"A miracle." She whispered into his ears, jumping down from his grasp she led him quickly through the halls to the infirmary, she opened the door and they saw the otter sleeping in her bed, snoring softly. In each other's embrace, Greenbrush and her husband smiled and thanked anybeast who would listen for the miracles that had been bestowed upon them. 


	5. 05 Truths

Later in the infirmary as Greenbrush and her husband, Swiftfoot slept in their quarters, adjacent to the infirmary. One otter, named Turin, had awakened, the only one they had been sure would survive and he told the hares about the other two otters. The pair that still slept was his brother the tall, strong otter, Kiln and his wife the pretty little ottermaid, Jema. Through the night very little happened until the night hours closest to morning when Kiln awoke to the dark room, confused to say the least.  
  
He sat up in the bed gripping himself in his arms tightly, running his paws through his fur almost in a sort of disbelief. At what he wasn't sure for his only memories were of the hair and then her face. The face was so clear in his mind, so beautiful and alive, she smiled brightly, a happy gleam in her eyes as she looked at Kiln. He closed his eyes to the dark infirmary trying to remember every little detail about her when suddenly her expression changed as a new memory cropped up.  
  
The sky was dark, rain falling like tears from the clouds about, twisted metal all about him. Everything about him was blurred save for her, her face red, eyes bloodshot and tear filled as she struggled with the blurred mists about her. His eyes swayed from her to the wet rock below, a trail of red flowing over the surface, mixing with the rain as it flowed towards a drain. From his obvious wounds he felt nothing, but seeing her in the pain, cheeks stained with rain and tears. He felt as though somebeast had ripped out his heart and played it like a drum.  
  
His eyes popped open to embrace the dark room again, his eyes slowly adjusted to the low light of a nearly extinguished lamp. He took in the scene before him, a male otter lay in the bed next to him, he felt a sort of connection with him, but his eyes wandered to settle upon the beautiful maiden just beyond. He looked at her with a careful eye, taking in every detail of her shaded form. The light flickered off her dark brown fur giving it a soft look, her face smooth furred and beautiful, something about her was reminiscent of the face in his dreams and nightmares.  
  
He got up slowly, careful not to make a sound and padded over to her bedside, kneeling he took a closer look at the young maid. He ran his paws through her fur gently, over her back causing her to purr softly in her dreams. Kiln smiled softly in the dark as her eye flickered around the room beneath her eyelids; he wondered what she was dreaming. He stared into the closed eyes, trying to place the feelings that bubbled in his mind as he ran his paws through her fur with care.  
  
Beneath her eyelids Jema saw all the pretty little things, a room with soft golden light flickering through the windows. The lovely park, flowers dotting the paths with great trees rising from the well kept grasses giving shade to its visitors. And as always, he was there, a smile on his face as he looked deeply into her eyes, the dark green orbs straining to see every little detail. She could feel him there, arms intertwined as they walked amongst the beauty of the park and then there was the dark.  
  
In her sleep she groaned softly, she could see it, the twisting trails of blood in the rain, winding its way over the hard concrete. She felt a great pain in her heart as all she saw was his features, eyes darkening as his mouth moved, silent words of comfort straining to reach her. In her sleep she felt the comfort of the strong paws that held her in reality. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she bolted straight up in bed, knocking over Kiln as he gasped in surprise, stubbing his tail on the hard floor.  
  
She looked down at Kiln, her sky blue eyes shining in the dark into his deep emerald eyes, no detail went unnoticed and they could feel a great comfort settle upon the room. For one moment in the darkened room, nothing was questioned as they were lost in those familiar eyes and all was right in their world. Memories came back; all the happiness forgotten was remembered as the universe was brought back into balance. As they stared each spoke a single word.  
  
"Jema . . ." Kiln whispered softly and got up to sit by his wife's side.  
  
"Kiln . . ." Jema replied drawing him close into a tearful embrace. Each felt their backs become streaked with the other's tears as all the anguish flowed out never to return. In the dark room they sat there with each other, thankful for everything, the pasts forgotten in the happiness to come in the future. Not a care or anything, but for the other they laid down in the bed in each other's embrace for a moment of happiness.  
  
"I love you Jema." Kiln cooed softly into his mate's ear as they stared deeply into each other's eyes, searching for the truth that they spoke aloud.  
  
"And I you Kiln." She whispered back as she found it within the deep recesses of his soul, looking through the windows of his eyes. Slowly together they closed their eyes together and as sleep claimed them they saw each other as all dreams came with their hopes for future and the happiness that was. They sleep long into the morning, always with each other, never letting go of the other.  
  
"Ain't it beautiful?" Greenbrush whispered to her husband as they crept into the infirmary softly, she looked at the pair with tearful eyes.  
  
"Oh don't go an break a jolly ol' faucet marm." He whispered softly in her ear as he placed his arms about her shoulders a smile spreading across his battle-hardened features.  
  
"Oh I'll jolly well flood the blinkin' mountain if I wish." She spoke as she jammed an elbow into Swiftfoot's ribs; he winced a little, but kept his arms about his wife as it was all in good fun.  
  
"That you'll do." He pointed out and then they stood silently watching the pair sleep on together in the bed, hopes and dreams running through their minds. 


	6. 06 New Horizon

Outside in the light of the new day, smiles on all. All thankful for the possibilities ahead, Kiln and Jema stood in each other's arms, their love obvious to all. Turin stood next to them happy at the scene before him and then the two Salamandastron hares stood, smiles all around. The sunrise bathed the lands in its golden embrace; the otters and hares bid their farewells, saying their thanks.  
  
"Thank you kindly matey." Turin said exuberantly as he shook paws with Swiftfoot heartily, thanking everything for what had happened. Greenbrush had told him how close the loving pair had come to the dark forest.  
  
"No thank ye for bein' our guests sah!" Swiftfoot exclaimed as he returned the paw shake with vigor.  
  
"Thank you." Jema said to Greenbrush in a soft whisper as her husband nodded along.  
  
"Your welcome." She said and they grouped around in a group hug, Jema let a stray tear fall from her piercing blue eyes onto the healer's smock.  
  
"Its all right." Kiln whispered softly as the two maids cried silently, he comforted them in his strong arms.  
  
"We know." They all stepped back.  
  
"Well we ought to be going." Turin pointed out and the two groups stood back looking at everyone else, everyone's eyes filled with hopes and dreams.  
  
"Yes." Greenbrush answered quietly and she watched, arm in arm with her husband as they watched the otters disappeared down the beach. She waved slightly as did her husband as they finally disappeared into the green wall of forest.  
  
They disappeared into the green, set for new horizons, hope lifting their spirits and pushing them on to find their scattered families, new family, friends and a new life. All dreams and hopes were possible and within their reach as they went over the hill into a new horizon with new truths. The past was nothing, but the small reminiscent thoughts. Shattered images of twisted metal, the rain and then the park, beautiful and perfect in all its glory, just forgotten memories. All in the past, but they would live on.  
  
THE END  
  
(This is the draft ending only, but I actually finished something YAY! So review and tell me if this was worth anything) 


End file.
